THE NATURE OF BARACK OBAMA

The BIGS have spent a lot of time on “The Vetting” of Barack Obama, doing the job the mainstream media failed to do four years ago. I confess that at first I was underwhelmed by the revelations. However, as time as gone on, I see Andrew’s wisdom. It isn’t any particular smoking gun, large or small, but a character portrait of Barack Obama that is emerging.

I think every reader will agree that who we are today is a function of who we were in the days before. Each of us carries the influences of parents, friends, colleagues, mentors, peers, teachers, and even chance encounters, in our psyches. Events also play a crucial role. We are each of us a mosaic, formed from the individual moments of our lives.

And our actions reflect these influences.

One thing I’ve learned from decades as a writer, storyteller, moviegoer, TV-watcher, and reader is that Occam’s razor usually applies when it comes to figuring out what someone is all about. Just as most crimes come down to a few simple causes (passion, greed), it’s not too difficult to string together someone’s personal narrative. I often think of Marcus Aurelius, channeled via Hannibal Lecter, when I assess someone’s character.

Hannibal Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?

Hannibal Lecter: No! He wants to be liked. That is his nature. And how do we begin to be liked, Lawrence? Do we seek out people to like us?

Me: No. We just…

Hannibal Lecter: No. We begin by doing what we are told. We please. We follow.

Barack Obama follows.

I think Barack Obama was told early on that he was being groomed. He did what he was told all along the way, about how to do all the right things to move up the ladder. He was told the only way to reach success and then keep it was to let others run interference for him while he walked into the halls of power. He would get to be likable by not doing anything controversial or, better yet, not do anything at all. And then one day, a door would open and his good looks and charm would sell him.

“Just do what you’re told and you’ll succeed”.

He was always told: stay quiet. Do nothing. Let others take the heat. Let the Democrats introduce legislation, not you. Let Democrats push the health care bill, not you. Don’t submit a budget. Don’t draft legislation yourself. Get foreign governments to like you by apologizing for America. Do the most politically expedient thing in any given moment so you either look good or at least you won’t look bad. Once you are President, you can do anything you want.

Notice how he literally cannot communicate without some kind of guidance, like a teleprompter. All he can do is parrot what he’s been told, but he knows that all the radical thought he’s been taught may not be what most Americans wants to hear. So in these stuttering moments he’s grasping to find a way to translate the radical thought into something vague and palatable.

Something else happened once he got into the White House. Despite all these radical and Liberal advisors telling him what to do, other more moderate voices remained from the previous administration, particularly military ones. I think it’s possible that this was the first time in his life he was exposed to some important, intelligent, accomplished people telling him that maybe, just maybe, all those radical ideas weren’t going to work.

Furthermore, all the people who got him into the presidency expected payback. Now he had to follow their orders and the only way to do that was to trod upon the Constitution via regulatory fiat. Hence the crony capitalism. Hence the “stimulus”. Hence the environmental payback in the form of Solyndra.

And so, Barack Obama continues to do what he’s told. He continues to follow.

About Lawrence Meyers

I've written many words. Some of them have even made sense. Some of them have been spoken by actors in TV shows. Others have just been viewed and, likely, scoffed at. All the better.
New Yorker at heart. Devotee of Jung. Skeptic. Lover of cinema. Authority defier.